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World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, colloquially known as WotLK and Wrath, is the second World of Warcraft expansion, officially announced on 3rd of August 2007 at BlizzCon. The majority of expansion content takes place in Northrend, and centers around the plans of the Lich King. Highlights include the increase of the level cap to level 80, introduction of the Death Knight hero class, new Inscription profession, as well as new PvP and world PvP content. No additional playable races are planned, though many new NPC races will be featured.http://www.youtube.com/?v=1Q3W0v098sI There is currently no announced date for its worldwide release. Northrend The expansion introduces a new continent on Azeroth - the harsh, icy Northrend is under the control of the Lich King, and is home to the majority of the expansion's new content. Northrend is a croissant-shaped continent in northern Azeroth. The continent is roughly half the size of the Eastern Kingdoms, but is expected to match Outland in length and width. Although Northrend is known for its snow and ice, developers stated that parts of the continent will not be frozen over, such as the jungle-like Sholazar Basin. Around 10 or 11 zones are planned for inclusion. To alleviate some of the problems experienced at the launch of the Burning Crusade expansion, players will be able to choose where to enter the continent more freely - both Howling Fjord to the east and the Borean Tundra to the west feature level 68+ content, and it is planned that you can level all the way to 72 without visiting both. The continent is designed to allow players to level from level 68 to 80. Both zones will feature a Hellfire Citadel-style instance hub with multiple dungeon wings for level 70 characters, level 80 characters, and raiders.http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=630.0 Flying mounts will also be usable in Northrend, but there is no determined level as to when you will be able to fly through the skies of Northrend. Blizzard said they want to "keep us grounded and guide us on foot for a while", so we can enjoy all the hard work they put into the land and not just "fly over it". http://www.xfire.com/blog/blizzcon2007/14820/ It is expected that green items in Northrend will be better than current Tier 4 equipment. Factions Various organizations and factions will be highlighted in the expansion. Dalaran / Kirin Tor Azeroth has also been affected by the addition - Dalaran is to move from its previous location in the Alterac Mountains to levitate at great height in the air north of the Dragonblight in Northrend. It will act as the neutral sanctuary city for the continent, similar to Shattrath City in Outland. The Kirin Tor of Dalaran are those responsible for the move, but the exact method is unknown - it is likely to be either by teleportation or transportation. It can be accessed by either foot or flying mount.http://www.wowinsider.com/2007/08/03/liveblogging-the-blizzcon-expansion-demo-panel/ The Forsaken The Forsaken and their Banshee Queen, Sylvanas, have also arrived with a new contagion that they hope will prove to be effective against the undead minions of the Lich King. The Forsaken are seeking vengeance for being subjected to Arthas's magic. They have recently created a settlement, New Agamand, in the Howling Fjord. The Knights of The Silver Hand The Knights of the Silver Hand will be making their return in Wrath of the Lich King, headed by the re-inspired Highlord Tirion Fordring. The order seems to be based out of Valgarde in the Howling Fjord. The Lich King It is planned for players to interact with the expansion's main antagonist, the Lich King, throughout the expansion, beginning as soon as the player steps foot in Northrend. Dungeons and end-game content The expansion adds group content in a similar fashion to the Burning Crusade, and the 'heroic dungeon' format will be preserved. Many new 5-man, 10-man, and 25-man dungeons will be located in Northrend. Note that, despite speculation, solo dungeons are not being planned.http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1230503915&pageNo=2&sid=1#20 Confirmed ;Utgarde Keep: An instance in the Howling Fjord filled with the Vrykul, a Viking-like race devoted to serving the Lich King. It was the first dungeon introduced at BlizzCon; the dungeon is comprised of four wings, presumably arranged in a similar fashion to the Hellfire Citadel. The first wing of the dungeon was playable at BlizzCon. ;Grizzlemaw: A dungeon involving furbolgs, located in the furbolgs' home of Grizzly Hills. ; The Nexus: Located in Coldarra, it will feature the Blue Dragonflight as the enemy. The Red Dragonflight will be aiding the players. ; Ulduar: A Titan-related dungeon where secrets of Azeroth's history will be revealed. ; Azjol-Nerub: The ancient subterranean kingdom of the Nerubian race, featuring an Old God and the Faceless Ones. ; An Icecrown Glacier raid dungeon: Culminating the expansion with a direct confrontation with the Lich King himself. Returning and retuning ; Old Stratholme: A new wing of the Caverns of Time, where you'll fight alongside Arthas before his insanity against Mal'Ganis to purge the city of Stratholme of its citizens who are infected by the undead plague. http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=735.msg7299;topicseen#new ; Naxxramas: The instance may be re-tuned to level 80 and included as a 25-man dungeon at an entry-level difficulty.http://www.mmo-gamer.com/?p=218 Speculated instance content * A dungeon featuring the ice trolls of Zul'Drak, although this was never mentioned at Blizzcon. * Grim Batolhttp://www.wowinsider.com/2007/08/23/grim-batol-past-and-future/ * Riplash Ruins, populated by the Naga, could perhaps be a dungeon. * Uldum, another Titan-related dungeon, may be included. It was mentioned as possible but undecided at Blizzcon. Hero Classes The expansion will introduce the long-awaited concept of Hero Classes to World of Warcraft. It is planned that the Death Knight (see below) will be the first of several "unlockable" hero classes, the only one available at launch, though no definite plans have been revealed. Hero classes will generally consist of classes from Warcraft III that were too strong to play from level 1 or could not fit a primary class role. Death Knight World of Warcraft's first hero class, the Death Knight will be accessible to players after completing a high-level quest chain similar in style to the level 60 warlock epic mount chain. Once the quest requirement is satisfied, a player will be able to create a new Death Knight character, which would start at a yet-to-be-determined high level. The Death Knight is a plate-wearing dps/tank class (albeit one that is unable to use a shield) that uses a brand new resource system based primarily on cooldowns. Rather than the existing Mana/Rage/Energy mechanics, the Death Knight will be able to carve Runes into his/her weapon outside of combat, and then use those runes to power abilities. Professions and skills Professions will be allowed to level to 450 skill points from the Burning Crusade's 375 skillcap, whilst leveling professions from 300-375 will be made easier. Note that at this time there are no plans to extend the Riding Skill further, nor to lower the cost of mounts and mount skills upon release of the expansion. This almost certainly means no new mount types will be introduced, but more variations of those we already have (i.e. epic land and flying mounts).http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1230604291&pageNo=1&sid=1#18 Inscription profession Inscription is a new profession that allows players to augment the power of their spells by increasing damage, reducing cooldowns or adding other effect, as well as new kinds of items. The profession of Inscription is similar to the profession of Enchanting. However, Inscription permanently enhances the attributes of players’ spells and abilities. For example, an "Inscriber" could take the Fireball spell, and give it the ability to daze a target for 3 seconds, or give Shadowbolt a Nature damage bonus, like 50 Shadow damage, then 60 Nature damage over 10 seconds. Characters Levels, spells and talents The expansion will allow characters to level to level 80, adding 10 additional talent points to their disposal and extending the talent trees further to allow for 51-point talents. Leveling from 70 to 80 should take the same amount of time as 60 to 70. Extended character customization Players will also be able to customize their characters using new hairstyles and skin colors, as well as change hairstyles of existing characters. New dances are also being added. A welcome addition for the many roleplayers of World of Warcraft! However, plastic surgery is not planned for inclusion - no options are planned to change a characters face, body shape or size.http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1230553915&pageNo=1&sid=1#11 PvP additions PvP mechanics will be extended in WotLK, with the addition of a dedicated PvP zone (even on PvE servers) in central Northrend called Lake Wintergrasp. There is no requirement to visit the zone, but the benefit will be an interesting reward affecting the whole region (or continent). The expansion will also introduce siege weapons, destructible buildings and at least one new battleground. The currently planned battleground will have siege vehicles, 15 people in each team, and games will last 30 to 40 minutes. Technical information The expansion is expected to enhance World of Warcraft's graphical engine - for example, a new shading system is being coded for use in ice caves, whilst flame animations are noticeably more detailed. System requirements have not yet been published, but are expected to be similar to that of the previous expansion, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Gallery Below are a variety of screenshots from the expansion. Many more can be found on relevant articles. See also * World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King FAQ * What Wrath of the Lich King is NOT References External links Official site * ** ** ** ** * * * * Unofficial sites Videos Category:Wrath of the Lich King Wrath of the Lich King Category:Articles with galleries nl: